Head shooting deer?

[Drop Port]

Only cull hunting when needed. Sometimes it's the only shot above the corn or beans. I like the going away when I can get it, back of the head if perfect or low to hit spine. I also on occasion use the front, head on, top of the head while down feeding. Each one is different, I watch them for a while and time them. If the head consistently stays down while eating that's when they get it and if they come up fast and pause to chew then that's where I time it.
If we are shooting numbers I use the head shot on the matriarch doe then go for boiler on whoever sticks around trying to figure out what just happened.

 

[snert]

Only cull hunting when needed. Sometimes it's the only shot above the corn or beans. I like the going away when I can get it, back of the head if perfect or low to hit spine. I also on occasion use the front, head on, top of the head while down feeding. Each one is different, I watch them for a while and time them. If the head consistently stays down while eating that's when they get it and if they come up fast and pause to chew then that's where I time it.
If we are shooting numbers I use the head shot on the matriarch doe then go for boiler on whoever sticks around trying to figure out what just happened.

Exactly!

Snert

 

[johnmventers398]

I will not do the between the eye and ear shot. Alsoi will never ever do the front on looking at me shot

Out of curiosity, why not a front shot?

For me it seems to be the one headshot I take the most - on alert, frozen deer, aim top nose. The bullet have not failed to smash through the whole head yet.
At the skull/neck intersection from behind also works well, the jaw/ear intersection is rare with me.

I use 6,5mm 123gr and 140gr bullets.

Ive seen one too many noses blowup. I shoot em in the neck before a front on head shot. Often when im shooting them in the head they are liying down.

 

[Berger.Fan222]

If I have a clean path to the heart/lungs, I prefer that shot.

If the heart/lungs is obscured by brush and there is a clear head shot, I use a steady rest and take it.

 

[savagedasher]

In 60 plus years of hunting I have seen two deer with their in the woods with their nose blown off . I can tell you the number I have seen with legs blown off from what I assumed was a shoulder shot. Hundred I have found or helped to recover that was shot in the guts and never recovered. The gut shot deer if they were aiming at the head would of ben a perfect Heart lung shot. Larry
.

 

[killahog]

I have shot more deer in the head than I can count, but if your going to do this be prepared for something like this to happen. I was able to follow up with a lung shot and recover but if this animal was to run away it would have been a very slow death.

 

[people]

Killahog what were you shooting for that deer?

 

[killahog]

I was using a Smokeless Muzzeloader shooting a Hornady 200 G SST traveling at 2700 FPS. Distance was 75 yards . I have no idea why I hit low.

 

[CaptainMal]

Shot an 11 pt last year looking up at me about 70 yards away. Used a 260 Ackley with 130 Sierra GK bullet. Put it right into his front teeth and back into his throat and head. Bang ... flop. His eyes did not look good but head was perfect. Darn cup and core bullet must have come apart as there was no exit and head damage.

 

[Barossa_222]

Not the same thing, but we cull Kangaroos here in Australia from time to time. The government stipulates head shots under 200 yards using a minimum calibre being the 222 Rem with a 50gr bullets.
In my experience shooting front on is a no no using a light gun like this. I have had game turn their head a the last minute and the bullet will whack them on the nose and they won't die. The bullet will just blow up. Back of the head or between the eye and ear are my 2 favourite shots. Have culled fallow deer using the same method. Under the spotlight, less than 150 yards using 52gr Nosler shots in the 222, all of them dropped instantly.

 

[OmegaRed]

There's a good article about this from a DNR sharpshooter that has killed thousands. You'd have to search and find it. He used a suppressor and rifle, so he could shoot a lot in a row. It's not whether it's lethal or not, there are just a lot of variables to make it ethical. Even on a close shot, wind, your error, deer movement, etc. You miss by an inch or two you are blowing it's face off and not issuing a clean, ethical kill - which is the intent of hunting. Too many people forget that these days with the Sportsman Channel and long range hunting fad. Hence the typical kill shot - it's there to minimize error - if you miss, more than likely you're still hitting other vitals that are 8" or so targets. There's a lot of real estate in that area that is a mortal shot.

I've killed a handful where it was warranted (kill permits) with a bench, benchrest front rest, target rifle, 42x scope. Even with all these in your favor...I wouldn't make a habit out of it. If you're looking for bang flops and no tracking (and shooting a rifle with sufficient punch), high neck shots will do the trick. Even if you miss the spine, shock will drop and kill them.

 

[boltfluter]

I personally never take a head shot on anything. Just no room for error if something goes wrong.

Paul

 

[dolek]

I personally never take a head shot on anything. Just no room for error if something goes wrong.

Paul

Same here,I know when I die I rather go fast instead of the suffering.

 

[spife7980]

I take a head shot on pretty much everything I can. If you ask me a 3006 to the head is much more ethical than shooting it in the ribs and legs and hoping you hit a heart and he runs out of blood pressure inside of 500 yards or a lung and dies of asphyxiation. But if Im not certain I can make that shot then I dont take it. Just move a bit lower and pop it in the neck.

 

[JRS]

That target is too small and leaves no room for error.

 

[spife7980]

That target is too small and leaves no room for error.

If you have that much error in your shot then you have no business taking the shot to start with. And by that same measure if you dont hit your target you will just miss and not hit it in the leg or brisket to limp to an unfortunate death.

 

[JRS]

If you have that much error in your shot then you have no business taking the shot to start with. And by that same measure if you dont hit your target you will just miss and not hit it in the leg or brisket to limp to an unfortunate death.

The boiler room leaves plenty of room for error. If you miss the brain and shoot it through the eye or jaw, you have a wounded animal on the run.

 

[spife7980]

The boiler room leaves plenty of room for error. If you miss the brain and shoot it through the eye or jaw, you have a wounded animal on the run.

If you shoot it through the eye then you have to be one hell of a marksman to also not do any damage to the rest of its head. If you shoot it through the jaw you missed by 4" or more and have no business shooting it to start with.

Every single animal Ive ever had to track was shot in the boiler room. Ive never had to chase something that is missing brain matter.

 

[OmegaRed]

If you shoot it through the eye then you have to be one hell of a marksman to also not do any damage to the rest of its head. If you shoot it through the jaw you missed by 4" or more and have no business shooting it to start with.

Every single animal Ive ever had to track was shot in the boiler room. Ive never had to chase something that is missing brain matter.

Does the body of a deer pivot on a neck? A head does.

 

[spife7980]

Does the body of a deer pivot on a neck? A head does.

And that is material how? He can also move on his feet...

If it is facing 90° from you and you hit him forward in the snout you would have also missed the heart and hit it in the brisket which is only musecle. If you missed the other way behind you either hit it in the spine or its a clean miss. With a body shot and you missed behind you shot him in the diaphram missing the vitals as well.

In either case have no business shooting it if you cant make the shot correctly and the result is you wounded a deer that will hopefully die quickly instead of days later. If hes facing you no snout is going to stop a bullet from flying through its head and away from you is the same story.


Heres a picture of a cull buck someone shot in the brisket that didnt go down for quite awhile based on his trail. Notice how it ran far enough for long enough for coyotes to have eaten him up in the time it took for us to get out there and track it down 2 hours later after learning about the shot at dinner.

You tell me whats the more humane kill: brains splattered about on the spot it was shot or hoping he expired and was not merely wounded while being eaten alive?